She Creature

She Creature (originally billed as Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature) is a 2001 made-for-television film starring Rufus Sewell, Carla Gugino, and Rya Kihlstedt and directed by Sebastian Gutierrez . It is the first in a series of films made for Cinemax paying tribute to the films of American International Pictures.[1] The films in this tribute series reused the titles of old American International Pictures films, but are not remakes of the earlier films.

For the 1956 film, see The She-Creature.
She Creature
DVD cover
Written bySebastian Gutierrez
Directed bySebastian Gutierrez
StarringRufus Sewell
Carla Gugino
Rya Kihlstedt
Jim Piddock
Reno Wilson
Mark Aiken
Theme music composerDavid Reynolds
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersLou Arkoff
Colleen Camp
Stan Winston
CinematographyThomas L. Callaway
EditorDaniel Cahn
Running time91 minutes
Production companiesCreature Features Productions, LLC.
DistributorColumbia TriStar Television
Release
Original release
  • December 20, 2001 (2001-12-20)

Plot

In 1905, in Ireland, two carnies, Angus Shaw (Rufus Sewell) and his wife Lillian "Lily" (Carla Gugino), encounter a Mr. Woolrich (Aubrey Morris) during one of their shows. Having heard that a mermaid will be on show, he is relieved to find that it is just Lily impersonating one. They offer him a ride home, where he shows them documented sightings of mer-people throughout history including a map of their home, the Forbidden Islands, and explains that they can take human form during the full moon. He then reveals to them an actual mermaid (Rya Kihlstedt), who he captured back in his admiral days, and explains how she killed his wife. Naturally Angus and Lily are astonished. Sensing Angus's desire to use her as a freak show attraction, Woolrich warns him against it.

Unbeknownst to Lily, Angus and his colleagues Bailey (Reno Wilson) and Gifford (Mark Aiken) break into Woolrich's home during the night but are caught. During the scuffle, Woolrich suddenly dies of a heart attack, allowing Angus and the crew to abduct the mermaid and smuggle her aboard their ship. Lily is less than thrilled about this idea despite her husband's attempts to persuade her it's for the best. During the crew’s first night at sea, Lily experiences troubling prophetic nightmares and the mermaid somehow escapes her tank and eats one of the crew members, Miles(Gil Bellows), before ending up caught in the ship’s nets. After an anxious Lily confronts Angus, he confesses that while he did kidnap the mermaid from Woolrich, he never intended for him to die. The mermaid meanwhile seems to have formed some sort of connection with Lily, almost taking control of her one night when she unwittingly tries to kill Angus. Worried that the mermaid will do further harm, Lily attempts to free her but is caught by Bailey, who is then devoured. Concerned for his wife's sanity, Angus locks her up in her room. Lily realizes she is pregnant, much to her horror, as she believed herself to be incapable of having children. She then reads the late Mrs. Woolrich's diary, which confirms her worry that the mermaid grants fertility by possessing women during sexual intercourse. She manages to escape and encounters the terrified mermaid, now in her human form due to the full moon. Lily comforts her, but they are caught by the crew just as she passes out. The crew angrily harass the mermaid before Angus intervenes. He and Gifford discuss the situation with the captain (Jim Piddock), who fearfully confesses that the mermaid made him do things against his will before committing suicide. A storm begins to close in on them and the crew realize that their captive took control of the ship and led them off course towards The Forbidden Islands. The mermaid reveals her true monstrous form as the Queen of the Lair and proceeds to feed the crew to her people, but spares Lily who is soon rescued by the crew of a passing ship. Out of respect for the mermaid she refuses to answer their questions. The film closes with Lily living peacefully with her and the mermaid’s half-human daughter.

Cast

Release

Home media

The film was released on DVD by Columbia Tristar both on January 1, and April 2, 2002. It was later released by Lions Gate on April 18, 2006, as a part of a double-feature with another film in the series The Day the World Ended. On June 1, 2010, it was released by Sony Pictures as a two-disk double-feature with Candy Stripers. Mill Creek would release the film on February 25, 2014 and on June 7, 2016; as a part of two multi-feature movie packs.[2]

Reception

Maitland McDonagh from TV Guide awarded the film 3/5 stars, calling it "surprisingly imaginative", commending the film's performances, creature design, and claustrophobic setting.[3] Arrow in the Head gave the film a score of 7/10, "The many astounding performances also contributed to make the fantastic premise even more engrossing... Add to that some solid special effects courtesy of Stan Winston Studios, gorgeous cinematography, a couple of intense scares, stylish directing and you get a very strong horror offering."[4] David Nusair from ReelFilm Reviews awarded the film a negative 1.5 out of 4 stars, calling it "cheesy". Nusair criticized the film's first hour as being "limp", writing, "all we really want out of this movie is a bad-*** mermaid killin' lots of folks. But we don't get that until the final 15 minutes."[5]

Awards and nominations
  • Saturn Award (Best Single Television Presentation).
  • Hollywood Makeup Artists and Hair Stylist Guild Award (Best Special Makeup Effects - Television Mini-Series/Movies of the Week).

See also

References
  1. She Creature - Dvd Archived 2006-05-19 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "She Creature (2001) - Sebastian Gutierrez". Allmovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  3. McDonagh, Maitland. "She Creature - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide.com. Maitland McDonagh. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  4. "She Creature - Horror Movie Reviews". Joblo.com. The Arrow. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  5. "She Creature (2002) - A Review by David Nusair". ReelFilm.com. David Nusair. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
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